When he reads a secure transmission from Earth received while they were sleeping, he commits suicide, leaving a note that he "joins his loved ones".

Granier and Han are too devastated to continue and commit suicide with a morphine overdose, and Reese and Zinovitz make it to the escape capsule.

There was no space flight – it is their final test, an "extreme stress simulation" scenario which involved the death of the commanding officer and multiple system failures.

In The Sci-Fi Movie Guide writes that the film was competently told, had a good cast, and had a "nice O'Henry ending".

[2] In their lengthy positive review of its 1996 television release, New York Daily News began with the qualification "Were this the average USA Network or Sci-Fi Channel telemovie, I'd say the shelf is where it belongs, and that it ought to ferment for at least another decade.

They concluded "Rick Jacobson has faith in all his actors: Some scenes are photographed in long extended master shots, while others rely totally upon the talents and closeups of single performers.